Home

Subscribe in your email box!

Subscribe in your feed reader!

I try to write about three times per week. Most of it is pretty good and will probably help you grow your business. If it doesn't, then I probably can't help you.

You can use a traditional RSS Feedreader with this fancy-dancy link. I think this approach is harder but if you want to do it the hard way, who am I to say otherwise?

You can use a traditional RSS Feedreader with this fancy-dancy link. I think this approach is harder but if you want to do it the hard way, who am I to say otherwise?

Contrary to popular opinion, I'm not a musician.

I've been known to talk a lot. Sometimes in front of groups.

I hope I don't sound like a braggart... if I do, I'm sorry.

Did you know I wrote two books? You should read them.

I've been known to write my musings. Read it all here.

Who is Corey Smith?

Ever since I was a little boy, I wanted to be a businessman. Yeah, I know, that’s a little odd.

I thought it would be cool to wear a suit to work and tell everyone what to do. I figured if I was the boss, then I could get whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it.

I realized, as I became an adult, that I hate ties. I like the way they look... I just hate wearing them. Makes me feel stuffy and not like an approachable person. Moreover, I realized that being the boss is hard work and having to make all the decisions is not the easiest thing to do.

So, I’m a businessman that wants to be casual. I love it when my team makes decisions. I love encouraging them to take the lead on projects and get excited about what they do.

I’m not a musician, but I dabble in music. I’m not an artist, but I dabble in design. I’m not a web developer but I dabble in making websites.

Speaking

I've always loved teaching. I find that when I teach, I have the best opportunity to learn. Whether I'm taking the time to prepare or engaging with my audience, I get the opportunity to expand how I think.

Because of this inherent love of teaching, I find that I enjoy getting up in front of a crowd. Whether teaching at the university level, teaching a small group or appearing on television, I love helping others learn.

Let's be clear. I'm not a motivational speaker but I always seek to motivate. My goal when speaking isn't to entertain but, instead, I want my audience to learn and I love to get them to think in new ways.

Most of the time I speak about web strategy. Sometimes I teach 'how to' concepts like marketing, social media or search engine optimization. I've been know to teach people about failing... the right way. Or how to be more creative in all that they do.

Your organization might benefit greatly from workshops that I conduct.

Awards & Accomplishments

Of all my accomplishments, I'm most proud of being a father of five wonderful children. I love to tease my children by telling them that I have four wonderful children. They enjoy joking about who the one might be.

Generally, I'm not one to brag about my accomplishments. I've always been one to downplay my successes and let others find out on their own what I'm all about.

However, I've come to learn that too often if I don't point out what I've accomplished then others might never know.

From education to awards, I'm very grateful for the opportunities that have come my way in recent years.

Books

For years I knew that I had a book in me. I had many starts on books. I tried writing a couple of novels when I was young. I tried writing a book on color theory. I even tried writing an autobiography.

With all the failed tries, I still knew there was at least one book in me.

I've now written two books.

My first book is "Do It Right: A CEO's Guide to Web Strategy." It's purpose isn't to teach you how to do anything but instead it teaches you how to think about the web.

My second book is "Tweet It Right: A CEO's Guide to Twitter." This is more of a how to guide. It allows you to get started in Twitter most effectively.

I've a few more books in me yet but you might consider learning more about my two books and perhaps even picking up one or both of them.

From My Brain

I have always valued hard work. Of course, when I was living with my parents as a teenager, they would never have known it. Since I realized I was responsible for my own destiny, I found that I enjoy working hard.

I also enjoy not working hard.

Balance can sometimes be a hard thing to achieve with work. In fact, sometimes I wonder if my wife will ever figure out how my on/off switch works.

I’m not opposed to working late to get something done but I’m also not opposed to taking a long, Sunday afternoon nap or just turn everything off when I get home and watch some TV or read a good book.

I have always valued hard work. Of course, when I was living with my parents as a teenager, they would never have known it. Since I realized I was responsible for my own destiny, I found that I enjoy working hard.

I also enjoy not working hard.

Balance can sometimes be a hard thing to achieve with work. In fact, sometimes I wonder if my wife will ever figure out how my on/off switch works.

I’m not opposed to working late to get something done but I’m also not opposed to taking a long, Sunday afternoon nap or just turn everything off when I get home and watch some TV or read a good book.

The most common question I hear related to web marketing is how to get higher in the search engines faster. I’ve talked a lot about search engine optimization or SEO at length.

One of the key first steps is to make sure the search engines know what content you have. Having clear paths for your content on your website with links throughout makes a big difference for the search engines. However, sometimes, that’s not enough.

Submitting your site map to your search engine of choice will make a big difference in the performance of your website in the search engines. A sitemap is a way to tell the search engine some key information about your website.

Posted in my web strategy blog on Monday, November 18, 2013 at about 9am.

The most common question I hear related to web marketing is how to get higher in the search engines faster. I’ve talked a lot about search engine optimization or SEO at length.

One of the key first steps is to make sure the search engines know what content you have. Having clear paths for your content on your website with links throughout makes a big difference for the search engines. However, sometimes, that’s not enough.

Submitting your site map to your search engine of choice will make a big difference in the performance of your website in the search engines. A sitemap is a way to tell the search engine some key information about your website.

Posted in my web strategy blog on Monday, November 18, 2013 at about 9am.

As we grow up, we learn skills and form opinions based on our experiences and personalities. We define ourselves by our thoughts, assumptions and actions.

One of the challenges that we have is that we naturally assume those around us think the same way we do. In fact, it's amazing how often we seem surprised when those around us think differently than we do.

The real difficulty comes when we are faced with hard choices that challenge our assumptions. Some of the hardest choices arise when we are asked to choose between what is right for us and what is right for others.

As we grow up, we learn skills and form opinions based on our experiences and personalities. We define ourselves by our thoughts, assumptions and actions.

One of the challenges that we have is that we naturally assume those around us think the same way we do. In fact, it's amazing how often we seem surprised when those around us think differently than we do.

The real difficulty comes when we are faced with hard choices that challenge our assumptions. Some of the hardest choices arise when we are asked to choose between what is right for us and what is right for others.

At no time in my life have I been truly happy with my weight or fitness level. There have been times when I have been significantly overweight and times when I've been healthier. Usually I've just been too large for my liking.

About 15 years ago I decided to ask my doctor at the time about my weight loss. I was about 240 pounds where I've mostly hovered for the last 20 years. I asked him what I can do about it. I spent some time telling him me experiences that I had a really hard time ever getting below 220.

His response was simple and clear, "You might have to accept you are not going to get much smaller than that."

Posted in my web strategy blog on Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at about 1pm.

At no time in my life have I been truly happy with my weight or fitness level. There have been times when I have been significantly overweight and times when I've been healthier. Usually I've just been too large for my liking.

About 15 years ago I decided to ask my doctor at the time about my weight loss. I was about 240 pounds where I've mostly hovered for the last 20 years. I asked him what I can do about it. I spent some time telling him me experiences that I had a really hard time ever getting below 220.

His response was simple and clear, "You might have to accept you are not going to get much smaller than that."

Posted in my web strategy blog on Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at about 1pm.

In the world of search engine optimization (SEO), link building is an important part of getting to the top of the search engines. When you are developing your link building strategy, it is important to be very proactive in your approach rather than just allowing it to happen naturally.

As you are considering the myriad tactics to gain links, you'll want to look at building efficiencies in your approach. It can be time consuming and ineffective if you take more time than necessary looking for links in all the wrong places.

Posted in my web strategy blog on Monday, November 11, 2013 at about 9am.

In the world of search engine optimization (SEO), link building is an important part of getting to the top of the search engines. When you are developing your link building strategy, it is important to be very proactive in your approach rather than just allowing it to happen naturally.

As you are considering the myriad tactics to gain links, you'll want to look at building efficiencies in your approach. It can be time consuming and ineffective if you take more time than necessary looking for links in all the wrong places.

Posted in my web strategy blog on Monday, November 11, 2013 at about 9am.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is simply the process of getting your website to appear at the top of the search engines. It is brand awareness for the web. There is a reason that marketing your website starts with search engine optimization. It is the same reason why you would start marketing your storefront with brand awareness -- if your customers don’t know you exist, they won’t buy from you.

Posted in my web strategy blog on Friday, November 8, 2013 at about 8am.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is simply the process of getting your website to appear at the top of the search engines. It is brand awareness for the web. There is a reason that marketing your website starts with search engine optimization. It is the same reason why you would start marketing your storefront with brand awareness -- if your customers don’t know you exist, they won’t buy from you.

Posted in my web strategy blog on Friday, November 8, 2013 at about 8am.

My company, Tribute Media, has been building websites and marketing them online for better than six years. We've had clients of all sorts. Those that are spectacular to work with and those who are, well, not so much.

Sometimes we have clients that forget that mistakes happen and it's no use sweating bullets over. They will flip out if there is a pixel out of place. They will struggle to realize that just because something isn't perfect on their website, it doesn't mean that the world has to come to an end.

Posted in my web strategy blog on Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at about 1pm.

My company, Tribute Media, has been building websites and marketing them online for better than six years. We've had clients of all sorts. Those that are spectacular to work with and those who are, well, not so much.

Sometimes we have clients that forget that mistakes happen and it's no use sweating bullets over. They will flip out if there is a pixel out of place. They will struggle to realize that just because something isn't perfect on their website, it doesn't mean that the world has to come to an end.

Posted in my web strategy blog on Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at about 1pm.

Most webmasters, for as long as the WWW has been a thing, have worked hard to increase traffic to their websites. Usually they recognize that more traffic doesn't necessarily equal more sales (hopefully) and perhaps they do know that increasing traffic at least increases the chance of a new sale.

Even when your goal is brand awareness and not sales or leads, increasing your traffic means that you increase your footprint.

The problem with traffic is that the quantity of visitors on your website is not necessarily an indicator of how well your website is performing. It's like the body mass index (BMI) of the marketing world. It's sort of an indicator.

Posted in my web strategy blog on Monday, November 4, 2013 at about 9am.

Most webmasters, for as long as the WWW has been a thing, have worked hard to increase traffic to their websites. Usually they recognize that more traffic doesn't necessarily equal more sales (hopefully) and perhaps they do know that increasing traffic at least increases the chance of a new sale.

Even when your goal is brand awareness and not sales or leads, increasing your traffic means that you increase your footprint.

The problem with traffic is that the quantity of visitors on your website is not necessarily an indicator of how well your website is performing. It's like the body mass index (BMI) of the marketing world. It's sort of an indicator.

Posted in my web strategy blog on Monday, November 4, 2013 at about 9am.

This week I had the opportunity to take a morning to do some fly-fishing with a good friend, Jordan Allen. This was only my second time and, last year, the same good friend took me for my first fishing trip.

Since I was no longer in my rookie, year, I performed much better. What I noticed, more than anything, was the fact that it didn't wear me out like last year. I found that I didn't have to work as hard to get the fly to go where I wanted. I think that I did so well I figure I'm pretty close to being promoted to amateur.

This week I had the opportunity to take a morning to do some fly-fishing with a good friend, Jordan Allen. This was only my second time and, last year, the same good friend took me for my first fishing trip.

Since I was no longer in my rookie, year, I performed much better. What I noticed, more than anything, was the fact that it didn't wear me out like last year. I found that I didn't have to work as hard to get the fly to go where I wanted. I think that I did so well I figure I'm pretty close to being promoted to amateur.

The term blog was first coined in the late 1990s. It became common in modern lexicon about 2004. Now, in 2013, it's still hard for some people to get. When I talk to businesses about blogging, I'm convinced that the most common reason why they don't blog it's because they don't like the word blog. They seem to think it's kind of hokey.

I think that a part of the problem is that blogging may have gotten a bad reputation over the years because the mention of a blogger typically elicits the image of someone in their parents’ basement, uploading opinionated and overly sarcastic content to the "blogosphere".

Posted in my web strategy blog on Monday, October 28, 2013 at about 9am.

The term blog was first coined in the late 1990s. It became common in modern lexicon about 2004. Now, in 2013, it's still hard for some people to get. When I talk to businesses about blogging, I'm convinced that the most common reason why they don't blog it's because they don't like the word blog. They seem to think it's kind of hokey.

I think that a part of the problem is that blogging may have gotten a bad reputation over the years because the mention of a blogger typically elicits the image of someone in their parents’ basement, uploading opinionated and overly sarcastic content to the "blogosphere".

Posted in my web strategy blog on Monday, October 28, 2013 at about 9am.